basement floods after town runs sewer line


  #1  
Old 11-22-04, 05:00 PM
jdc2c
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Exclamation basement floods after town runs sewer line

Please help. My husband and I bought a 1905 bungalow in June. The house has a fieldstone basement so we figured we would get some dampness (and maybe more with heavy rains) However, the town we live in spent the summer installing a municipal sewer line down our street. Ever since they ran the line in front of our house our basement has been flooding (when it started it hadn't rained in three weeks). There is also water and mud on the street at our curb. Our neighbor told us that he saw the crew come in with a pump because they seemed to hit a lot of water in front of our property. The town says they didn't hit a water main so it's not their problem. The engineer says we have a leaky basement and the flooding isn't the result of digging the line. I think it's an awful big coincidence. We were planning on hooking on to the town sewer line but everyone seems to agree that doing that will make the flooding ten times worse. We have a 1500 tight tank now and if we can't hook on to town sewer we'll have to have it pumped every other month. I have been using a wet vac every night and I can't keep up. Any suggestions? Please!
 
  #2  
Old 11-23-04, 05:01 AM
S
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wow, I feel for you on this one. There was an issue like this in our neighborhood a while back and everyone went to city council to voice their complaints. Perhaps see if anyone else on your street is having the same issues and collectively go see if anything can be done about it.-Sean
 
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Old 11-23-04, 03:05 PM
R
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Sean is right about talking to neighbors.

Also, get the health dept. involved. Is this a storm sewer or sanitary sewer? Has the water in the basement been tested? What do they say is the source of the water if it isn't rain?
 
  #4  
Old 02-25-05, 12:22 PM
kees39
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Exclamation

I see from your post that you are in Massachusetts...if you are in Essex, MA, there are others with the same problem. Please contact me at harry1012@yahoo.com.
 
  #5  
Old 02-26-05, 07:59 PM
lost_ring
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Sump pump

You may also want to see if you have a place in your basement for a sump pump and get one in there right away until you get the problem sorted out. That might keep the water lower than wherever you're vacuuming it from so that you don't get mold and rot and other problems in the mean time.

Also, it sounds to me like they DID hit a water line, or maybe cracked a line, possibly even yours while using the heavy equipment. Mud coming up at the street seems like a telltale sign. When they tell you that they didn't break a water line, you might tell them you think they did. Maybe insisting that they did will get them to investigate further.

If an old line cracked in front of your house, your neighbors might not see any effects in their basements. If it's getting to your place, it seems like it would be traveling along some drainage line or maybe even alongside your own water line. Maybe you can pinpoint where it's coming in.

If you're thinking of connecting to the sewer line, I assume that's something that you would have to contract yourself. I think they can install a check valve (one way valve) in that line so it can't back up to you. But in any case, getting quotes on that now might get you some further opinions. They will have to do some digging to install that line and they might be able to replace an old water line in the same dig.

Best of luck.
 
 

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